Toilet paper rod with self-locking device

ABSTRACT

A self locking device for holding a roll of material comprising a moveable arm adapted to pivot about a support member which extends through the roll. The moveable arm prevents the roll of material from sliding off the support member when it pivots away from the support member. The moveable arm comprises an arcuate slot which abuts against a bar on the support member and limits the pivot about the fulcrum of the support member. The moveable arm allows loading and unloading the roll of material when it is stored within the support member.

BACKGROUND

This invention involves a new device for holding rolls of sheet materialwhich involves a self locking device to prevent rolls of sheet materialfrom falling off the roll holder. More particularly, this inventioninvolves a self-locking mechanism for locking rolls of toilet paper ontoa roll holder. The self-locking mechanism fits within the roll holder inorder to change the roll of sheet material and rotates out of the rollholder in order to lock the roll of sheet material on the roll holder.

BACKGROUND

Manufacturers of sheet material have for a long time produced productsin rolls. Some examples of rolls of sheet material include plastic,steel, aluminum, paper, and fabric.

Known in the art is U.S. Pat. No. 1,684,190 (Moser), which discloses aspindle for holding a roll and the spindle has a flange attached to theouter end of the spindle. The flange is attached via a spring and theflange is always outside the spindle. Another paper roll holder in U.S.Pat. No. 2,632,605 utilizes a spring mechanism for securing the roll inplace.

Recently, U.S. Pat. No. 5,323,995 disclosed a paper towel holder usinglanyards. Lanyards wrapped around rolls of paper towels held the rollsof paper towels in place with decorative beads. The roll holder in U.S.Pat. No. 4,767,074 disclosed a stop element consisting of attachment ofa screw off cap or disc to a cylinder. Finally, in 1949, U.S. Pat. No.4,767,074 showed the design of a roll holder, with the stop mechanismalways on the exterior of the support spindle and in the shape of acylinder.

SUMMARY

A roll as heavy and dense as a coil of steel when transported utilizes asupport member extending through the coils. The support member is longerthan at least a length of a coil of steel. The support member may hold aplurality of coils. A proximate end contains a means for attaching thesupport mechanism to an anchoring device. The distal end comprises afulcrum about which a moveable arm can rotate above the coil of steel,and below the roll of steel. The moveable arm while in the supportmember allows for installation and removal of the coils of steel.

A roll as light as a roll of toilet paper utilizes a self-lockingmechanism when a lever rotates about a fulcrum on the support membersuch that the lever rotates from within the support member, an x-axis,to a height less than perpendicular to a y-axis. The lever rotates backto the center of the support mechanism, the x-axis, and then rotatesdown from the x-axis of the support member to less than perpendicular tothe negative y-axis.

The self-locking device for holding a roll of toilet paper includes asupport mechanism adapted to extend through at least one core of toiletpaper and has a means for stopping the toilet paper from falling off thesupport member at the distal end of the support member. The proximateend of the support mechanism has a means for attachment of the selflocking device to a surface.

The distal end of the support member has means for stopping the roll oftoilet paper from falling off the support member. A fulcrum on thedistal end allows rotation of a lever about a first point on the supportmember. Adjacent the fulcrum is a mechanism for stopping the rotationabout the fulcrum. A preferred embodiment for stopping the rotationabout the fulcrum includes a bar adjacent the fulcrum at a second pointon the support member, the bar having a length at least the diameter ofthe support member and extending perpendicularly through the supportmember.

The distal end of the support member comprises a moveable arm whichrotates around the fulcrum. The moveable arm comprises a length at leastthe radius of the core of the roll of material. A preferable length ofthe moveable arm comprises a length at least the diameter of the core ofthe roll of material. The moveable arm extends past the core of the rollin order to hold it in place when the core of the roll touches themoveable arm.

The moveable arm comprises a means to lock the roll of paper on thesupport member. An embodiment of the self locking mechanism involves acircular slot at a first end of said moveable arm, so the moveable armcan rotate about the fulcrum on the support member and an arcuate slotadjacent the circular slot. The moveable arm does not rotate 360 degreesabout the fulcrum due to the arcuate slot abutting against the bar onthe support member.

The means for stopping the rotation involves limiting the pivot of themoveable arm around the fulcrum. The fulcrum in the distal end of thesupport mechanism is adjacent a stopping mechanism. A preferredmechanism involves use of a bar on the support mechanism to abut thearcuate slot on the moveable arm.

The stopping mechanism on the moveable arm involves at least one orificethrough which a rod may pass. One opening rotates about the fulcrum; asecond orifice has a shape of an arcuate slot. The arcuate slot limitsthe rotation of the moveable arm by abutting against the bar in thesupport mechanism.

When the moveable arm is within the support member, a roll of material,preferably a toilet paper roll, may be installed or removed from thesupport member. In a preferred embodiment the moveable arm is a planarpiece with at least two slots. The slot at the first end of the planarpiece allows the planar piece to pivot to less than 90 degrees above thesupport member, pivot back to within the support member, and pivot toless than 90 degrees below the support member. The planar piece is ofsufficient length to extend past the core of the roll of material inorder to block it from falling off the end. In a most preferredembodiment the second end of the planar piece has an orifice that issufficient to receive a padlock.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a self locking device unitaccording to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG. 1, the toilet paper rod with self-locking device forholding multiple rolls of toilet paper consists of a rod 2 withsufficient length to hold a plurality of rolls of toilet paper. Theproximate end 3 has a means for attachment to a surface. The rod 3 isattached to a holder within a wall of a portable toilet. The distal end4 has a fulcrum 5 and a pin 6 around which the moveable arm 7 rotates.Arcuate slot 8 limits the angle of rotation about fulcrum 5 when pin 6abuts against arcuate slot 8. Moveable arm 7 pivots around fulcrum 5 toan angle limited by arcuate slot 8 and back again.

Moveable arm 7 is in a roll-loading position when moveable arm 7 iswithin member 2. Member 2 supports the roll of sheet material byextending though its core.

Moveable arm 2 then rotates out of the support member 2 in order to lockthe roll of toilet paper and prevent it from sliding off support member2. Moveable arm 7 rotates from a position within the x-axis of supportmember 2 to a position almost perpendicular to support member 2.Moveable arm 7 may not rotate more than 90 degrees above the x-axis ofsupport member 2 due to the interaction between arcuate slot 8 and pin6. Moveable arm 7 may, however, rotate to 90 degrees in the oppositedirection down below the x-axis. As long as the moveable arm 7 has alength sufficient to extend past the core of the roll to at least therift layer of material wound around the core, the moveable arm preventsa plurality of rolls from sliding off the support member. The directionof the rotation may be in any direction of the z axis.

The toilet paper rod with self-locking device may be made of anymaterial. The material may be metallic, organic, inorganic, silicone, orplastic.

Thus a novel toilet paper rod with self-locking mechanism has beendescribed. It will be appreciated that the device has been described interms of several embodiments, which are susceptible to variousmodifications and alternative forms. Accordingly, although specificembodiments have been described, these are examples only and are notlimiting upon the scope of the invention.

1. A toilet paper rod with self-locking device comprising: a memberadapted to extend through a core of the roll of material, said membercomprising: a proximate end, said proximate end comprising means forattachment to a surface, a distal end, said distal end comprising amoveable arm connected to said member, whereby said moveable armcomprises means to pivot from a roll-loading position to a roll-lockingposition, said roll-loading position comprising said moveable armfitting generally within said member, said roll-locking positioncomprising said moveable arm pivoting out of said member to an anglesufficient to hold said roll of material on said member.
 2. A toiletpaper rod with self-locking device according to claim 1 wherein saidmoveable arm pivots to a substantially 90 degree angle relative to saidsupport member.
 3. A toilet paper rod with self-locking device accordingto claim wherein said member comprises a fulcrum about which themoveable arm may pivot and said member comprises a means to limit saidpivot.
 4. A toilet paper rod with self-locking device according to claim3 wherein said moveable arm comprises means to limit said pivot.
 5. Atoilet paper rod with self-locking device according to claim 1 whereinsaid member and said moveable arm comprise means to limit said pivotabout said member.
 6. A toilet paper rod with self-locking deviceaccording to claim 1 wherein said distal end comprises a fulcrum, saidmoveable arm pivots around said fulcrum, said member comprises means tolimit said pivot, and said moveable arm comprises means to limit saidpivot about said fulcrum.
 7. A toilet paper rod with self-locking deviceaccording to claim 6 wherein said moveable arm comprises an arcuate slotand said member comprises a pin extending through said arm perpendicularto a length of the member, whereby said member abuts against said pin.8. A method for constructing a toilet paper rod with self-locking devicecomprises: mounting a moveable arm on a member for supporting a roll ofmaterial, wherein said member comprises a distal end and a proximateend, said proximate end comprises means for attachment to a surface andsaid distal end comprises a fulcrum, rotating the moveable arm aboutsaid fulcrum, and locking the roll of material onto said member.